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Tales from the Boom-Boom Room: Women vs. Wall Street By Susan Antilla Published by Bloomberg, 2002 In the early 1980s, a growing number of women began to enter the securities industry. Unfortunately, they found a very hostile working environment. One of the biggest securities firms, Smith Barney, had a network of retail brokerage companies through Shearson/American Express. Pam Martens worked in its very successful Garden City, Long Island branch. The branch manager, Nick Cuneo, created a fun atmosphere for the men in the office, who turned the office basement into the party-filled “boom-boom room.” Male brokers continually subjected women to verbal harassment and inappropriate touching. Women struggled to be hired, and then found that the men in charge of their careers practiced all sorts of sexual harassment and intimidation, from jokes to displays of sexual intimidation, physical contact, and threats of rape. This book discusses how sexual harassment shaped life inside Wall Street firms and how one whistle-blowing woman courageously fought back. About the author: Susan Antilla, a Bloomberg News columnist, once worked at the New York Times where she launched a weekly investing column and an complaint investigation column called “Between Main & Wall.” She was the bureau chief of the Money section of USA Today and financial bureau chief for the Baltimore Sun. She was a finalist twice for a Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. By the time Pam Martens first joined the Garden City office, it had already developed a culture as a party center for hard-driving, competitive brokers. The branch was located in an attractive upscale New York City suburb, but women in the office were treated with no respect by male co-workers who routinely called them vulgar names. The men even discussed their sexual exploits in front of their few female colleagues. The year 1982 brought about the greatest bull market in American history. The Garden City Office, one of the highest output offices in the system, was enjoying the perks that the prosperous market brought. The head of the office, branch manager Nicholas F. Cuneo, reflected the old style approach to sales. He was loud, direct, demanding, and crude in the office, and the men he managed mimicked that tone that he set. He and the other men were not happy when women started working in the office. During one interview with a woman applicant, he had the audacity to tell her that she will not be paid as much as the men in the office. Cuneo’s hard working, hard partying office performed well — ranked among the top ten percent of the company’s branches in profitability. He encouraged a fun atmosphere, where drinking was common at the office and at the local saloon.
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